Jill Corcoran

On April 24th, 2025, Jill Marie Corcoran entered into heaven as the sun started to rise, ushering in her 68th birthday. She passed away surrounded by her husband and family.

She was born Jill Marie Stevens on April 24th, 1957 at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina to Julius Olvin Stevens Jr. and Rose Marie Stevens (Penney). She was the second of three children. Although born in North Carolina she soon moved to Orange County California where she lived throughout her childhood, graduating as a valedictorian at Santiago High School in Garden Grove class of 1975. It was around this time she got her first job, working as Cinderella in Disneyland.

She then settled in the Bay Area and throughout the 1980s she became a mother to 5 of her 6 children. In the early 1990's she moved to Billings, Montana which is where she would call home for the rest of her life. Although she would be crowned Mrs. Montana America in 2002, she would always carry a piece of that California girl in her heart. This dramatic contradiction is best encapsulated by the fact she kept a California driver's license whilst driving a car with Montana plates that said “MRS MT”.

While she worked various jobs as a flight attendant, dental assistant, front desk at the C'mon Inn and later in life back in dental offices as a receptionist, her main passion and joy was the local theatre. Her first play in Billings was a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Billings Studio Theatre (locally known as BST) where she played the dangerously alluring wife of Potiphar. There was rarely a time where she wasn't in a production or singing with the Billings Ensemble. Whether she was front and center in a major role or in the chorus she would always give her best performance. There are too many plays and parts to recount them all but some highlights include her first starring role as Nellie in South Pacific, Glinda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz and Mother Parker in A Christmas Story. Her bread and butter was family friendly musicals but she didn't shy away from more challenging roles including a pot-addicted murderer in Reefer Madness and a dramatic turn in Terms of Endearment.

While her role in a production of Grapes of Wrath in 1998 wasn't large, it was this play that would change her life forever. Unbeknownst to Jill, her future husband was in the audience. Within a year she and Edward Richard Corcoran Jr. would be married on January 1st, 1999 at the place they first meet, BST. They were 26 years married at the time of her passing. This union also brought into her life a new son. When she wasn't doing theatre she spent much of her time with Eddie working in their financial business (Primerica). This venture gave them the ability to travel across the country.

Jill is survived by her husband Eddie. Six children, Andrew (Nicole) Ginn, Steven (Sachi) Ginn, David (Jennifer) Ginn, Daniel Morgan, Marissa (Brendan) Halsten and Edward Corcoran III. Her sister and brother-in-law Julie and Rob Crowder, nephews Nathan and Brandon Crowder, and her brother, Jack Stevens. Her 15 grandchildren Alyssa, Annalyn, Cherish, Aubrey, Avery, Jonah, Maiya, Senna, Jesse, Arya, Jameson, Bentley, Haven, Mila and Honor. Lastly Mini, her dog of 15 years who was always by her side even as she took her last breath.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, May 10th at 2:57 p.m. at Billings Studio Theatre 1500 Rimrock RD, Billings, MT 59102. An interment service will be held privately by the family at a later time.

Her spirit will forever shine on through the lives she touched and the stages she graced.